Bird's Eye View
by IrishDipstick
Summary: Taylor and Jason find themselves caught up in a murder. May contain spanking of a minor.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 1**

Both Taylor and Jason were up and ready for school early. Taylor waited impatiently for her mom to punch in the code for the alarm, she could see Jason waiting across the street, and she didn't want him to leave without her.

"Come on mom, hurry up, he's gonna go without me!"

Patricia was just about to punch in the numbers when she turned to look at her daughter. "He'll wait Taylor. What are you two up to anyway?"

"Nothin'."

"You sure?"

"Yeah mom." Taylor replied, sighing. "Are you gonna let me out now?" She was almost bouncing up and down by this stage. Patience was definitely one of Taylor's strong points.

"Okay." She typed in the four numbers. "But make sure you're not late for class."

Taylor was out the door and halfway down the path before Patricia had finished her sentence.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

The two early birds headed straight for woods, they had found themselves a new hobby. Stashing their bags at the bottom of a tree, they climbed as high as they could, to a branch strong enough to hold the both of them. It was the perfect position, right beside the path, giving them a good view of the passing joggers. Jason pulled his new flip camcorder out of his pocket and checked the battery. Now all they had to do was wait.

It wasn't long before they heard their first victim approaching. Jason readied the camera, and once the jogger was close enough Taylor cupped her hands in front of her mouth to make herself louder and gave her best rabid dog impression. The woman stopped running and frantically looked around her for the animal. As soon as she started to jog again, Taylor started barking again. The poor woman didn't know what to do as she spun three hundred and sixty degrees trying to spot where the noise was coming from. No one ever thought to look up. Deciding she had had enough, Taylor stayed silent as their victim sprinted away in the direction she'd come from.

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah. Don't know if its good enough to post, but I think I got a good shot of her looking scared.

They had tried this quite a few times now. The best one they had posted on youtube so far was one of a marine. Taylor had recognised the t-shirt he was wearing and instead of barking, or shouting some random insult at him she had filled her lungs and blasted out only one word. "INCOMING!" The poor guy had immediately thrown himself to the ground and covered his head. Now she had felt a little guilty about that, but it had turned out to be their most frequently watched video on the internet site. Jason checked his watch and camcorder. They had time, and just enough space left on the memory card for a couple more, before they had to leave for school.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

No new victims appeared and Taylor and Jason were just about to start climbing down, when they heard someone approaching. This time it was someone walking. Not wanting anyone to see their prime position in the branches, they stopped moving and waited for them to pass by. Both kids gave a sharp intake of breath when they realised the man was in uniform. He was a cop.

Jason whispered into Taylor's ear. "Do you think someone reported us?"

When Taylor shrugged Jason began to speak again. "I didn't think anyone….."

Taylor gave him a dig in the ribs with her elbow and shushed him. Something wasn't right. For a start there was only one, normally they worked in pairs. But it wasn't just that, he was looking around nervously, and even though it was cold, Taylor could see the sweat breaking out on his forehead.

They watched as he checked out the area on both sides of the path, before concealing himself behind a tree trunk, just a few feet away from them. Where he was standing now, he couldn't be seen from the path, but Taylor and Jason had an unobstructed view. When he reached down to his left ankle, and pulled up the leg of his pants to reveal a small pistol, both kids froze. At first Taylor couldn't figure out why the ankle holster looked strange. Why she was thinking about that, when it was the gun she should be worried about, she had no idea, but when he removed the weapon she realised the holster was covering part of a large snake tattoo.

The police officer used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe away the sweat that was running into his eyes, as he leant up against the tree. When the footsteps of a jogger could be heard, the cop peeked out from his hiding place to see who was coming. It was a young woman, and mustn't have been who he was looking for, because he ducked back quickly behind the tree again, and she ran on past without seeing any of them.

A good five minutes must have passed before footsteps were heard again, although to Taylor and Jason it seemed like hours, as they prayed frantically that the cop wouldn't look up, or change his location and spot their bags. This time they were louder, and as a man came into view the policeman stepped out in front of him, and blocked the path, pointing the gun straight at him. Taylor could feel Jason moving behind her, and glanced round at him. For one awful moment she thought he was gonna try climbing out of the tree and running, but he was pulling the camera out of his pocket. She turned her attention back to the two men who were now arguing. The officer was really starting to lose it now, and was yelling loudly at the guy in the red shorts.

"I told you what would happen if you went anywhere near my wife again!" He took a step closer to the terrified man, who was now backing away from the gun, with his hands in the air. It looked as if he wanted to speak, his lips were moving, but nothing was coming out. Then without any warning the cop pulled the trigger, and the jogger fell to the ground, his t-shirt slowly turning the same shade of red as his shorts.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 2**

Three pairs of eyes were locked on the body lying on the path. No one moved, in fact Taylor and Jason were too scared to even breathe until the cop turned around and began walking in the direction he had come from. As soon as he disappeared round the bend, both kids scrambled out of the tree. Taylor quickly grabbed her backpack and put it on, pulling out her cell phone as Jason struggled with the straps on his bag.

She whispered anxiously at him as she scrolled through the phone menu for her dad's number. "Will you hurry up!"

"Got it." Jason looked towards Taylor, then past her at the figure in the dark blue uniform that had just reappeared on the path again. When the guy reached for his ankle Jason knew they'd been spotted. "Run!" Grabbing Taylor's wrist he pulled her further into the trees. The sudden jolt sent her phone flying, but there was no way she was going back for it. Instead she focused on moving as fast as she could through the undergrowth. Another shot rang out and Taylor hit the ground. Jason realising she had fallen beside him, grabbed the handle on her backpack and hauled her back to her feet. They had just started running again when they heard a woman's scream from somewhere behind them. Ducking behind a fallen tree trunk, they risked a look to see what was going on.

The cop wasn't chasing them anymore. He was heading back towards the two women they could just make out through the trees. Both kids were breathing hard, hearts thumping with the adrenalin coursing through them.

"What's he gonna do?" Jason whispered.

Taylor didn't answer, the officer had reached the tree they had been hiding in. She watched him reach for something on the ground, then slip it into his pocket.

"Aw f***! He's found my phone." Taylor sat down, with her back leaning up against the trunk, and covered her face with her hands.

"Come on, you can always get another one."

Taylor looked up at him, he wasn't serious was he? He was. "Jason, he'll be able to use it to find out who I am, and where I live! And how are we supposed to call my dad for help, you didn't even bring your phone."

He hadn't thought of that. "Shit! What do we do now?"

She shook her head. "No idea, but I know we need to get out of here. In a few minutes this place is gonna be crawling with people, and if that cop finds us, no one is going to stop him taking us away. Then it's game over." The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance now. "Come on, move!" With that thought in their heads, Taylor and Jason headed deeper into the woods.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Not for the first time that morning Patricia stared at the empty desk in front of hers. It was almost nine thirty and still no sign of Taylor. She was going to have to call Jethro, and was not looking forward to it. If Taylor had cut school again, especially after the last time, he was going to be absolutely furious. Taking a deep breath Patricia made her way out of the classroom and along the hall to check on Jason. She was not surprised to find he wasn't there either. There was nothing else for it, pulling out her phone she hit speed dial.

"Jethro?"

"Uh huh, what's wrong?" Gibbs set down the cold case file he was reading.

"Taylor's missing, and so is Jason." She prepared herself for the explosion.

Silence.

"Jethro, you still there?" For a moment she thought she'd lost the signal.

"Yeah. She left early this morning didn't she? Did she say where she was going?"

"No. Do you think she's okay?"

He was already taking his badge and gun out of the drawer. "If she's cutting school again, she'll be okay, until I get a hold of her, that is." Gibbs pulled his coat on and lifted the car keys. "I'll check out their usual haunts, and ring you later."

Tony watched his boss curiously from his desk, wondering what was going on.

"Everything okay boss?"

"Taylor's gone AWOL again. Where's McGee?"

"With Abby. Do you need any help?" Tony would do anything to avoid reading cold case files.

Gibbs shook his head. "Need you to cover for me. Get a hold of McGee though, and see if he can trace her cell."

Tony sat back in his chair again, disappointed, and lifted the phone. "On it boss."

As Jethro stood in the elevator, trying to keep a hold on his temper, he tried to think of the places Taylor and Jason could be. His daughter better have a bloody good excuse for not being in school. After the last time he had been sure Taylor wouldn't do it again. The elevator doors opened cutting his thoughts short. He had decided though, it was cold out there, so the first place he was gonna check was Patricia's house.

Almost an hour later, Gibbs was running out of places to look for Taylor. Tim hadn't been able to get a location on her phone either, so now he was just driving around in the hope he could spot her. He was just about to give up and head back to NCIS, to plan his next move, when he noticed a number of squad cars parked up beside one of the entrances to the woods. He knew Taylor and Jason spent a lot of time there, but had ruled it out because it was too cold to spend any length of time there. Slamming on the brakes, he parked in behind them, and pulled out his badge. Climbing out of the car, he headed towards the officer who seemed to be in charge.

By the time the police officer had explained about the shooting, Jethro's anger had been eradicated. What replaced it was a combination of dread and panic. Realising he was going to need some help, Gibbs started the car up and sped back to NCIS.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 3**

When Jason and Taylor figured they were deep enough in the forest to feel a bit safer, they stopped to take in their surroundings. Taylor turned three hundred and sixty degrees. "Ah…. Jason ….do you have any idea where we are?"

He spun round too, looking for any feature that looked familiar. He shook his head, and for one awful moment Taylor thought he was going to cry. She couldn't blame him if he did, she was trying hard not to do the same. Grabbing his arm she pulled him over to a nearby tree.

"Come on, sit down, we need a plan." Taylor gave him the opportunity to suggest something, but he just leant his head back against the trunk and stared at the sky.

"Okay, we can't go to the police, because 'HE' might be there, and they probably wouldn't believe us anyway. Right?"

When Jason didn't answer she hit him a dig in the ribs with her elbow. "Jason!"

"Ow! Yeah, definitely no cops. What about going to your dad, or back to school?"

"By now my mom's probably told him we're not in school, he'll be out lookin' for us. We can't go home, that'll be the first place that cop looks for us. NCIS or school would be safe, but we'd stand out too much on the streets at this time of the day, we'd be picked up in no time."

"Then what?" Jason kicked at the dirt beneath his foot.

"First thing we gotta do is find our way back to one of the trails."

"Yeah, like that's gonna be easy!"

"It might take a while, but we'll find a way out of here, come on, we've been lost in these woods plenty of times."

"We didn't have someone chasing us with a gun before!"

Ignoring his last comment she continued "I think we should lie low in here until it starts to get dark. Then we'll try and get home."

Jason nodded, feeling a bit better now they knew what they were gonna do. "You got any food in there?" He pointed to her backpack.

Taylor grinned, that was more like the Jason she knew. "Peanut butter."

Leaning forward she slipped her arms out of the straps and lifted it in front of her to open it. Her eyes were drawn to a spot of dirt on the outer pocket, and she brushed her hand over it. When it didn't move Taylor looked at it more closely. It wasn't dirt, it was a hole. She poked her finger into it. The hole went right through the fabric. Taylor was starting to get a real bad feeling about this, and quickly unzipped the main section of the bag, before lifting everything out bit by bit.

Lunch bag, hole right through.

Pencil case, hole right through.

Homework, hole right through.

File block, hole right through.

Math book, hole right through.

Her history book was last, and Taylor swallowed hard when she spotted the bullet lodged deep in the front of it.

"He shot me!"

Jason went pale when Taylor reached him the book. "He's definitely not just gonna forget about us is he?"

"No." She quickly dismissed any thoughts of what might have happened, and handed him half of her sandwich. "When we've eaten, we'd better start looking for a path or something, cause it might take a while, and we need to know exactly where we are before it gets dark."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs had the whole team trying to track down his daughter. Tim was standing in front of him now, trying to explain that the GPS must have been switched off in Taylor's phone, and the only way they could trace it would be if she made a call. He'd already tried phoning her a number of times, but there had been no answer. Tony and Ziva were both out checking and rechecking anywhere they thought the two kids would be. Tony in the woods, and Ziva scouring the streets. He was starting to run out of options, and that was only leaving him with time to worry. What if Taylor and Jason had been caught up in the shooting? Were they scared and hiding? Hurt? Dead? Then his mind automatically jumped back to Kelly and Shannon, he already knew the lengths people would go to, just to keep themselves out of prison. It couldn't happen again, he wouldn't let it.

Gibbs slammed his hand down hard on the desk, making Tim jump. "Just keep trying McGee!"

"Yes, boss." Tim returned to his own desk, and started the whole process over again.

Grabbing his gun and coat, he headed out of the building, he was going to get Tony to meet him at he crime scene, maybe they could find something there to go on.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Jason and Taylor had walked for hours, before finding an area they were familiar with. After a while everything had started to look the same, and they must have wasted a lot of time walking round in circles. But now they could relax a little. They knew the clearing they were sitting in now, really well. Evidence of their previous shooting exploits were still there. Part of Jason's target was still stuck to one of the trees, and quite a lot of bullet holes, although greener now, were still evident on a couple of the tree trunks.

As the sun began to go down, so did the temperature, and Taylor and Jason huddled together to keep warm. They said very little, both worrying about whether or not they would be able to make it home okay. Taylor was positive that as soon as they got back, her dad would be able to sort everything out. She glanced at the darkening sky again. It wouldn't be long now before they could make a move.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Patricia went straight home after school, she'd been allocated the job of waiting at the house in case the kids showed up. So far no one had managed to find any trace of either Taylor or Jason. Jethro was just about holding it together, and was still out searching, but with the light fading, she knew the situation was becoming a lot more serious.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the front door. Hoping it was Taylor she almost ran through from the kitchen to answer it. When she opened the door however, any hope she had quickly evaporated. Standing on the porch was a police officer, but it wasn't him she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from. It was the clear plastic bag in his right hand, containing what she was sure was Taylor's mobile phone.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 4**

Jason and Taylor kept off the streets as much as possible, as they tried to make their way home, ignoring the scratches and bruises they picked up from climbing over fences and forcing their way through hedges. It took it a lot longer, but eventually they made it, breathing hard as they rounded the corner of their road. Jason skidded to a halt in front of her, and Taylor collided with his back, but she didn't have time to complain before she found herself being shoved roughly into the Anderson's driveway.

Only when he was sure they were safely out of sight, did Jason speak. "There's a patrol car parked outside your house."

"Shit!" Taylor went to look, but Jason pulled her back. "Was my dad's car there?"

Jason shook his head. "Just your mom's."

"We're gonna have to see who's in there, it could be him." Again Taylor felt herself pulled back.

"Are you crazy? What if it is him?"

She shook her arm free. "If it is him, what's he gonna do to my mom? And your mom and dad are probably there too." The same look of panic she had on her face was now also on Jason's.

"They're probably all in the kitchen. All I have to do is sneak into the back yard, it's dark out here and with the light in the house on they won't be able to see me." Taylor started making her way towards the Anderson's backyard.

"I'm comin' with you."

Taylor spun round and stopped him. "You need to stay here, in case I get caught. Give me five minutes, and if I'm not back by then get the hell out of here."

Jason thought it over for a few seconds, it should really be him going to check, he was older, but Taylor could make her way though the gardens a lot easier than he could, and she had way more practice at it than he did. "Okay, but be quick!" He watched as

Taylor disappeared into the darkness.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

As she edged closer to the kitchen window Taylor could make out three figures seated round the table. Her mom was there, Jason's too, but it was the man in the uniform she focused on. He was sitting with his back to the window, and Taylor waited nervously for him to turn around. He didn't do that, but when she saw her mom lift the plastic bag with her phone in it she knew it was him. Realising her five minutes were almost up, she retraced her steps back to Jason, making him jump as she reappeared beside him.

"Is it him?" He whispered, but he could already tell by her expression that it was.

"I think so, couldn't see his face, but he has my phone, it has to be him we saw him lift it. Your mom's there too."

"So what do we do now?"

"Can't call the police. Need to phone my dad, but I don't know his mobile number. It's not that far to my mom's house, if my dad's not there already looking for us, his number will be written down there somewhere. Come on, we gotta get him outta there!"

Not really sure what was going on any more Jason chased after her.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

There was no sign of Gibbs at Patricia's house as the two kids made their way round the back of the building. Jason tried the back door, it was locked. Taylor just shrugged, and headed for the small rockery she knew was at the bottom of the garden. It wasn't easy in the dark, but she managed to find a rock big enough for the job she had in mind. Jason's eyes widened, as he watched her take aim and throw it as hard as she could, shattering the kitchen window. Both froze, expecting someone to come running around the corner to see what the noise was, but apart from a dog barking a few doors down, there was nothing. Confident, they were in the clear Taylor disappeared into the darkness of the yard again, this time returning with a smaller rock, to break off the shards of glass sticking out from the bottom of the window frame. Not wanting to waste any more time she pulled off her coat and placed it over the frame, just in case she'd missed any glass, and hoisted herself up and through the window. As she bumped herself through the dark kitchen, she could hear Jason close behind, but didn't switch on any of the lights until she reached the phone in the front hall. There was no phone book, but clearly written beside one of the speed dial buttons was 'Jethro Cell." Taylor hit the button, and listened anxiously to the little beeps as the call connected.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

It only took a few rings before Gibbs answered the phone.

"Dad, you gotta …." She didn't get a chance to finish.

"Taylor? You're at your…"

"Dad it doesn't matter where…"

"Are you okay? Is Jason …..?"

"Will you just…."

"Don't move, I'm …"

No matter how hard she tried to tell him he had to get home, her dad just kept on asking questions, and Taylor quickly became frustrated. She had to get him to listen to her.

Closing her eyes she yelled down the phone at him. "WILL YOU SHUT THE F*** UP!"

That worked, he was stunned into silence, and before he had the chance to respond she blurted out. "The guy who shot the jogger is a cop and he's at our house with mom! You need to go, NOW!"

In the background she could hear the screech of tires, and one very loud car horn.

"Don't you move from that house Taylor, keep the lights off, and lock yourselves into one of the bedrooms upstairs. I'll be there with your mom before you know it." The line went dead. He'd hung up.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 5**

Gibbs tried to control the panicked thoughts filling his head as he raced towards home, replacing them with more positive ones, such as Taylor and Jason were safe, and the cop wouldn't harm Patricia as long as he was still trying to find the kids. He wasn't convincing himself though, and subconsciously pressed his foot down harder on the gas pedal. As he neared the house, Gibbs forced himself to slow down. There was only one car parked in the driveway and it was Patricia's. Parking on the street he calmly walked towards the front door and let himself in, as if nothing was wrong. He didn't have to go looking for his wife, she threw herself at him as soon as the door closed behind him.

"They found Taylor's phone….. at a crime scene." Patricia started to cry.

Pulling her close he put his arms around had leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Is the police officer still here?"

"No, he left about ten minutes ago." She couldn't understand why Jethro wasn't upset. "Why?"

"Taylor's okay, she called me from your house to warn us about the cop who was here. Says he was the one who shot the runner this morning." He let that sink in before continuing. "Is he coming back?"

"He didn't say he was coming back, just left a contact number, in case she turned up."

"Okay, you need to go to Taylor and Jason, and stay there until I let you know it's safe to come back. I'll send Tim over, just in case. You didn't mention the empty house when he was here did you?"

Patricia shook her head. "Beth was here though, she'll need to come too."

"What about Jason's dad?"

"He's still out looking for them."

Gibbs kissed her forehead. "Go. I'll call you later."

He watched from the living room window as Patricia and Beth drove off, before lifting the phone to call the rest of his team.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor and Jason sat huddled together in the smallest of the three bedrooms, trying to ignore the creaking noises the empty house made. They didn't unlock the door when they heard movement downstairs, instead they waited until they were sure it was actually Tim calling out to them.

Taylor flew past Tim who was checking the layout of the house, and launched herself at her mom. Patricia held her tight for a few moments before letting go of her, to make sure Taylor wasn't hurt.

"Look at the state of you! Are you okay?" Apart form a few scratches and a lot of dirt Taylor looked uninjured.

"I'm fine." She looked past her mom towards the door. "Where's dad?"

Jason who was still holding onto his mother, looked over towards Patricia. "Taylor got shot!"

All eyes turned to Taylor, who was still waiting for an answer.

Patricia reached for her daughter again. "You what?"

She just shrugged her off and stepped back again. "Where is he?"

It was Tim who answered. "He's back at your house with Tony."

Spinning round now to face him she ignored the questions her mom was firing at her. Taylor was starting to panic. "But that cop's gonna show up there again!"

Tim was just about to explain what was going on but stopped when Patricia shot him a warning glare.

"He'll be okay Taylor, and Tony's with him." This time when she pulled her closer, there was no fight. Thinking a little distraction might help, Patricia took Taylor by the hand, and led her upstairs. "Lets get you and those scratches cleaned up."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

When her mom helped her out of her jacket, Taylor sat on the edge of the bath, and watched as Patricia pulled some cotton wool and a small brown bottle out of the medicine cabinet, before kneeling down in front of her.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Wetting a clean cloth in the sink, she started trying to clean some of the dirt off her daughter's hands and face.

Taylor shook her head. She didn't want to talk or think about anything right now. She did however become a little more vocal when her mom began applying the antiseptic. That stuff really packed a sting.

Relieved Taylor was beginning to act a bit more like herself, she let the colourful language slide.

"Jason said you were shot.?"

"Yeah, in my history book. She quickly changed the subject. Can we go back down now?" Taylor wanted to try and find out exactly what was going on.

Apart from Tim, who was settled in the chair by the fire with his gun sitting ominously on the small end table beside him, the scene in the living room was now surprisingly normal. Jason was sitting close to his mom on the couch, no doubt recounting the whole story, while waiting for his turn to be checked out.

When Taylor switched the TV on and sat on the floor, she wasn't interested in watching anything, just wanted the opportunity to think without having to talk to anyone. Jason was indeed ushered upstairs next by his mom, and Patricia disappeared into the kitchen on a mission to find some coffee.

"Coffee Tim?"

"Yes please." And Tim being Tim went to give her a hand.

No one in the house heard the front door open, then close as Taylor silently crept out.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs had called the number left with Patricia almost an hour ago, informing the police officer that Taylor had returned, but that he hadn't been able to get any information out of her before the doctor checked her out and gave her something to make her sleep. He arranged a time with him for the following day to come and interview Taylor, knowing full well that he would make an appearance much sooner than that.

Tony was now positioned patiently downstairs . The lights were all out, giving the impression that everyone was in bed, so he was relying heavily on his sense of hearing. Every now and again he could hear the creak of floorboards as Gibbs made his way from the landing at the top of the stairs, to the front and then the back of the house, checking for any movement outside. Just about to do the same thing, Tony froze as the cold metal of a gun barrel made contact with his right temple.

"Stand up, slowly, and put your hands behind your back."

He could barely make out the low whisper but had no other option but to let himself be cuffed.

Gibbs heard the click of the handcuffs and was down the stairs in seconds, gun in hand, but he was too late. The cop was using Tony as a shield.

"Drop the gun, now, and kick it over here!" He moved his pistol closer to Tony's head to show he wasn't messing around.

Ignoring Tony's silent plea of "Don't do it boss." Jethro lowered his gun onto the floor and slid it across the wooden surface, watching as it was kicked well out of his reach.

Tony found himself being shoved towards Gibbs, hands still cuffed, almost knocking him over.

"Sit down." He ordered pointing towards the couch with the revolver. It was the same one he'd used earlier, small, but still deadly. When he considered the two men to no longer be a threat, he switched on the light, illuminating the room.

"You shouldn't have left the alarm off, you might as well have put a big sign on the front of the house saying 'trap'!" He was getting more and more confident by the second. But then he remembered why he was here. "Where are they?" He leant against the doorframe between the living room and the kitchen, obviously enjoying the feeling of being in control.

Tony and Gibbs remained silent, both determined not to give him any information he could use.

"Okay, if you want to play it like that." Raising the gun he took a few steps closer and aimed at Tony. "I'll ask again, where are they?"

Tony looked at Gibbs. "Don't tell him boss."

No sooner were the words out of DiNozzo's mouth, when the cop lowered the gun and aimed towards Tony's leg, pulling the trigger.

Tony didn't cry out, only groaned and rolled over slightly onto his side. When Gibbs made as if to stand up, the officer didn't move from where he was standing, just slowly cocked the gun and took aim again. "Move, and the next one's going right between his eyes. Now, last chance, where are the kids?"

Gibbs didn't think the situation could get any worse, but what he heard next made his blood run cold.

"Here."

As soon as he heard Taylor's voice behind him, the cop spun round, gun still raised.

Jethro didn't even make it to his feet, before another gun shot rang out.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 6**

Taylor didn't take her eyes off the body lying in front of her as she lowered Tim's gun. It was as if time itself had stopped in her head and she was barely aware of her dad kicking the cop's revolver to the side as he knelt down, pressing two fingers to the man's neck to check for a pulse.

Satisfied the police officer no longer posed a threat, Gibbs turned his attention to his daughter, gently removing the gun from her hand and placing it on the floor. Taylor didn't look at him until he reached out for her.

Staring straight into his eyes she took a step back. "Don't touch me!" She didn't shout, it was more like a growl and the words were filled with determination.

Standing up with the intention of lifting Taylor away from the body, he was interrupted by a loud moan from Tony.

"Ah boss, still bleeding here!"

Taylor stepped to the side as Gibbs reached for a towel on the counter behind her. Not sure if she was going to bolt when he left the room, Jethro grabbed a handful of her sweatshirt and dragged her through to the living room. He deposited her beside Tony on the couch where he could keep an eye on her, while he took the cuffs off him and clamped the cloth on his leg to try and slow the bleeding down.

Tony winced, then looked at the blood stain on the sofa beside him. "Sorry about the couch boss."

Gibbs was in the process of dialling the paramedics and didn't look up from the phone as he replied, "Don't worry about it Tony, you can buy me another one."

It was only now that Tony noticed that Taylor was beside him.

"What are you doing here?"

When Taylor ignored him he glanced over to Gibbs who just shook his head, warning him not to push it.

The next call was to NCIS. Jethro wanted their agents to handle this case, he wasn't exactly filled with confidence right now where the police were concerned, and considering one was lying dead on his floor right now it was probably the best option.

When all the phone calls were made and there was nothing else to do but wait, Tony decided to try and find out what happened, without having to admit that when he thought he was gonna be shot again, he had closed his eyes, missing everything.

"Gibbs?"

"Yeah Tony?"

"How'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"How'd you manage to get a shot off?"

"I didn't." Gibbs didn't elaborate.

"Well then what…." The penny dropped, and he looked first at Taylor and then her father. He closed his mouth. Question time was over.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Less than fifteen minutes later the house was over run with paramedics and NCIS agents. Tim with Patricia by his side, pulled up just as the ambulance was leaving with Tony. It wasn't so much that, as the coroner's van parked outside, that struck dread into both as they raced up the path and into the house.

Patricia made a bee line for Taylor, who hadn't moved from where she was sitting. The instant Gibbs spotted Tim he grabbed the front of his jacket and pushed him hard against the wall.

"How the hell did you let her get out of the house with your gun MCGee" He shouted.

"I…I…I only left her… for…a few minutes."

Furious did not even come close to describing how Gibbs felt right now. "I told you not to let her out of your sight!"

"Jethro, not now!"

The sound of his wife's voice cut through the red mist and he relinquished his grip on the young agent.

Letting out a relieved breath, Tim picked up the courage to speak. "Where are Ziva and Tony?"

Gibbs lowered his voice this time. "Couldn't get a hold of Ziva, and Tony's in the back of the ambulance you just saw drive off."

"Is he going to be okay?"

His anger at Tim lessened slightly when he saw the worry written clearly on his face.

"He's going to be fine McGee, he was lucky, it was just a flesh wound."

Ducky appeared, complete with his little leather doctor's bag. "Tim, why don't you give Palmer a hand packing up."

Grateful to both help and put some distance between himself and Gibbs, Tim hurried outside again.

Gibbs looked towards Taylor again. He had no idea what to do, or what was going on in that head of hers. He didn't recognise that look in her eyes, when he actually managed to make eye contact. Whenever he tried to get close, Taylor just turned away from him, and she hadn't spoken since she'd told him not to touch her. Hopefully Duck could figure out what she was thinking. He was completely out of his depth. Ducky held his hand out and Gibbs was surprised and a little hurt when she stood up and took it, allowing herself to be led upstairs to her room.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Ducky was a long time with Taylor, and when he made his way down to the kitchen all the other agents, including Tim, were gone. Gibbs was pacing, coffee in hand, while Patricia who was sitting at the table tried to calm him down.

He spun round when he realised Ducky was there. "Well?"

He set his bag on the counter before answering. "I gave her something to make her sleep, she's exhausted."

Patricia stood up, and headed for the stairs, she wanted to make sure for herself that Taylor was okay.

"Is she in shock?"

Ducky shook his head. "Not exactly."

Gibbs set his cup down and went to stand in front of him, he didn't have a lot of patience at the best of times, and worrying about Taylor had removed what little he had left.

"Well what then?"

Ignoring Jethro's impatience Ducky didn't answer the question, instead asking one of his own. "How did you feel tonight when you realised Taylor was here?"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" He slammed the mug down on the counter. "We're talking about Taylor, not me!"

Ducky took a step closer to him and gave Gibbs a sharp smack to the back of the head. "Just answer the question Jethro."

He glared at the older man, but answered anyway. "How do you think I felt Duck? Terrified she was gonna end up dead or hurt, and furious that she'd put herself in that position, and that I'd let her. And when I heard the gunshot….."

Ducky waited for him to make the connection. When it didn't happen he sighed loudly. "Sometimes I think you forget how alike you two actually are." Gibbs was still lost. "Is it so inconceivable Jethro that Taylor feels the same way?"

"What? She's angry because we were trying to protect her?" He asked incredulously.

"No Jethro, she's angry at the extent you'd go to, to protect her. Taylor's afraid of losing you, just as much as you are of losing her.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 7**

Gibbs sat down at the table, rubbing his hands over his face, trying to make sense of what he'd been told. Ducky poured himself a cup of coffee and joined him.

Jethro looked across at the other man. "Taylor's not upset about shooting the cop?"

Ducky shook his head. "I thought that was the problem at first, but no, she's not." He took a sip from his mug before elaborating. "She said it was the only way to stop him shooting Tony again."

"Shit! She saw Tony being shot? How long was she there?"

"She came in behind him just before he fired. At first she thought it was you who had been shot."

Jethro shook his head. "I could kill McGee. He was supposed to be protecting her. Hell, he even let her take his gun!"

Ducky grinned across the table at him. "Now come on Jethro, you know what Taylor's like when she puts her mind to something, she's nothing if not resourceful. If she can give you the slip, Tim didn't really stand much of a chance now did he?"

That almost brought a smile to his lips. "You do have a point there. Maybe I should have told him to cuff her to Patricia."

The two men sat in silence for a few minutes, both deep in thought.

Eventually Gibbs spoke again. "What am I gonna do Duck?"

"Taylor's been through a lot today Jethro. It's enough for you to try and process, never mind a child. Hopefully when Taylor wakes up tomorrow she'll be more willing to talk to you."

"What if she's not?" He shook his head again. "And what the hell am I gonna say to her anyway?" He knew there wasn't going to be an easy answer, but he asked anyway.

Ducky stood up and rinsed his cup out in the sink. "You'll know what to say when the time comes, I don't doubt that for a second." He lifted his bag. "Do you want me to call in and check on her tomorrow night?"

"Thanks Duck, that would be good." He walked the older man to the door, and watched as he climbed into that strange looking car of his, before turning and heading upstairs to make sure Taylor were still okay.

He found his wife sitting on the bed beside Taylor who was sleeping soundly. Patricia looked just as tired as he felt.

"You need to get some sleep too."Patricia just glanced up at him before looking back down at Taylor. "I don't want her to be on her own when she wakes up Jethro."

He reached for her hand, pulling her gently to her feet. "Go to bed, I'll stay with her." When she started to object he added, "I'll come get you if she wakes up, I promise." As Patricia reluctantly disappeared into their bedroom, he took her place on the bed beside his daughter, sitting against the headboard, legs stretched out in front of him.

He tenderly brushed her hair away from her eyes and Taylor stirred, turning over in her sleep, and curling up closer to him. It was the sight of the thumb in her mouth that reminded him again how close they'd come to losing her today, and a wave of fear and panic hit him with all the force of a freight train. For an instant he was back in the living room, gunshot ringing in his ears, convinced Taylor was dead. He closed his eyes, took a few deep calming breaths and tried to force the memory from his mind.

When he finally succeeded he glanced at his watch. He was dog tired, but there was now way he could sleep. It was going to be a long night, but at least he'd have plenty of time to figure out what he was going to say to Taylor, and just as importantly, how to get her to listen.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

The sound of the alarm coming from their bedroom woke him up the following morning. He must have dozed off sometime around six. Easing himself up so as not to disturb Taylor, he crossed the landing to see how his wife was doing. Patricia was already up and dressed, looking one hundred percent better after a night's sleep. 'That woman could handle just about anything' he thought to himself as he walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her neck. She playfully swatted his hands away before turning to face him.

"Is she awake yet?"

Gibbs shook her head. "You wanna keep an eye on her while I hit the shower?"

Patricia nodded. "Do you need me to stay home with her today?"

"No, I'm not going in. I want to make sure Taylor understands what happened yesterday. If I can get her to listen, that is."

"She'll listen, eventually. You just need to get past that stubborn streak." Patricia stopped in the doorway and smiled at him. "I wonder where she got that from." She didn't wait for an answer.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor didn't waken up until long after Patricia had left for work. At first she couldn't understand why her dad was sitting beside her. Then she remembered, and all the anger came flooding back. Without saying a word she pushed the cover back, climbed off the end of the bed, and made a beeline for the bathroom. Turning on the shower she stood under the warm water, and hoped he would get the message and just leave her the hell alone

He didn't. When she emerged from the bathroom, wrapped tightly in a towel, her father was still there. Taylor blanked him again and began rooting for something to wear.

"Pick something warm, you're going to need it." He didn't explain why, and Taylor didn't ask. "You've got fifteen minutes, then I want to see you downstairs. You'll need to eat something before we leave." With that he left her to get dressed, and to wonder just what he had in mind.

Thinking Taylor was not going to put in an appearance Gibbs was just about to go and fetch her when she appeared in the kitchen. When he placed some toast in front of her, she pushed it to the side, and poured herself some cereal instead.

Taylor was finding it hard to concentrate on what was going on around her. The only thing she wanted to do right now was be on her own. The impulse to bolt was growing stronger by the minute, so when her dad left her to put a bag into the car she figured that she would use the opportunity to escape through the back door. She didn't get very far though, the door was locked. Taylor was looking for the key when her dad came back again. It was obvious he knew what she had been trying to do, but he didn't mention it, just handed her a coat, took a hold of her arm and led her out to the car.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs stole the occasional glance at his daughter in the seat beside him, as she stared sullenly out the window. He knew what she was trying to do, he'd been there before himself. The wall she was building around herself to stop anyone getting close enough to hurt her wasn't going to work. He wasn't going to let it. He'd been right when he thought she was going to run at the first opportunity. Well where he was taking her, Taylor wouldn't have the opportunity to do that, he wasn't planning on spending the day trying to track her down.

Taylor didn't show any kind interest as they pulled up into the marina, or when he dumped their gear into one of the smaller boats about half way along the jetty. The boat was only about seventeen feet long, not a yacht as he would normally choose, but a motorboat. If the weather turned he wanted to be able to make it back quickly, and the engine would handle that nicely.

The thought of being stuck that close to her father spurred another break for freedom, but the handle on the back of her lifejacket scuppered that attempt pretty quickly. Taylor, fully expecting a swat this time, covered her backside quickly with her hands, but just found herself being lowered into the boat. Her dad followed close behind, and moments later the engine roared to life and they were heading for open water.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor watched her dad from the stern of the boat. He seemed to know where he wanted to go. How, she had no idea, the only thing in front of them was water, and there was no GPS, just an old compass in front of him that he checked from time to time. Eventually he must have figured they had gone far enough, easing off the throttle and cutting the engine. For a few seconds the roar of the engine still rang in her ears, before being replaced by the gentle lapping of water against the hull.

When her father turned around she quickly remembered she was mad at him and turned away from him. Not that there was really much to look at, just the boat's white frothy wake slowly dissipating into the slight swell of the ocean. Although Taylor had been determined not to show any interest in what her dad was doing she couldn't help herself. When she heard him rattling around, curiosity got the better of her and she turned just enough to see what was going on, while still trying to look uninterested.

Gibbs although aware that Taylor was watching, didn't acknowledge it in any way. It was a start he thought, as he pushed the sections of the fishing rod together, at least she was looking at him now, although trying miserably to hide the fact she was doing so. He threaded the line from the reel up through the eyes, before tying on the set of hooked feathers, followed by a lead weight. From the corner of his eye he spotted his daughter turn a little more as he baited the hooks before swinging them out over the side of the boat and slowly letting the line out until the weight hit the bottom. Now all he had to do was wait.

Both sat deep in thought as the boat gently rose and fell with the swell. Taylor's mind was full of images from the previous day, and she was struggling to keep her emotions in check and to stop any tears from escaping. Gibbs was trying to stop himself from feeling guilty about what he was planning to do, but it was the only way he could think of to get her to start talking. He had only ever taken her fishing once before and if she didn't react the way he thought she would he had no idea what to try next.

Before long he could feel something nibbling at the hooks so he quickly raised the rod and started to reel it in. He could tell it wasn't big, but that didn't matter it would serve it's purpose. Taylor had moved over to the side now and was leaning over, trying to see what was caught on the end of the line, forgetting to act uninterested. It seemed to take forever before the fish became visible in the water, darting frantically one way, then another to try and escape from the hook.

Gibbs reached over, supporting it as he lowered it onto the deck, holding it still as he unhooked it. It was now or never. He lifted the priest from his bag, knelt down, grabbed a hold of the fish, and raised the heavy wooden bar above his head.

"DON'T!"

He lowered the priest and looked up at Taylor who was now right beside him. "You want to put it back?"

She nodded.

"Are you going to tell me why you're so angry?"

Taylor looked at the fish, mouth open, gills opening and closing in a vain attempt to find some oxygen, then back at her dad. When she didn't answer, he raised his arm again.

"Okay."

Dropping the priest to the deck he gently lifted the fish and handed it to his daughter. "You can do it."

Taylor carefully leant over the side, unaware that her father was holding onto the loop on her life jacket, and lowered the fish into the water. It took a few seconds for the fish to realise what was going on, but when it did, a few flicks of it's tail took it deeper and out of sight. She rinsed her hands in the water, before straightening up and drying her hands on her jeans.

Jethro waited to see what she was going to do next, and was not surprised when she took her original spot in the stern, folded her arms, and glared at him.

As he reached down to get more bait, he almost smiled. Taylor in a temper was much easier to deal with, and getting her to speak to him at all was a big step in the right direction. Hiding the relief he was feeling, he started to bait the hooks again.

"What are you doing?" Now Taylor was getting pissed, he was going to try and catch another one.

"I'm still waiting for you to tell me why you're mad." He lowered the line into the water, before making himself comfortable on the seat and putting his feet up on the side of the boat. He didn't push her for an answer, instead he closed his eyes and tried to relax.

Maybe closing his eyes hadn't been the smartest of ideas. He felt the line suddenly go slack, then the boat rock a little as Taylor dropped back onto her seat. She'd cut the line, and was now innocently looking over the other side of the boat.

Without saying anything he patiently tied on another set of feathers and a new weight, before baiting it and dropping it over the side again. This time he kept his eyes open, he hadn't brought enough bait with him for her to keep cutting it loose.

Taylor's glare returned as soon as she realised he wasn't giving up, but she wasn't willing to start talking yet, there was no guarantee he was going to catch anything else.

After about twenty minutes Gibbs was starting to think the same thing, he hadn't even had so much as a bite. That wasn't going to stop him though, he pulled up on the rod, the way he had earlier and started to slowly reel in the line. Taylor as before, watched to see what he had caught, although she looked worried this time, not curious.

"If you want to let this one go, you'd better start talking, because once it's in the boat…."

Taylor looked at him to see if he was bluffing. He didn't look as if he was.

Reeling in as slowly as he could, he prayed she would start talking before the empty hooks became visible as they neared the surface. When she did speak, her voice was so low he could barely hear her.

"You should have told him where we were."

He stopped reeling and twisted round to face her.

"Told who?"

"You know who, the cop. He was gonna shoot you." Not wanting to look at him right now, she peered anxiously in the water for the fish. It must be still swimming about down there somewhere, all hooked up.

"Aren't you gonna reel it in yet?"

"It'll be okay for a while. You know you made all the right decisions yesterday, and that was pretty impressive considering how scared you must have been. Up until the time when you left your mom's house that is. Then you screwed up big time."

Taylor only glanced up at him briefly before searching for the fish again.

"Why did you steal Tim's gun and put yourself into danger like that?" That question really got her attention, and she spun round to face him, face flushed in anger.

She yelled at him, fish temporarily forgotten. "Why did I put myself into danger? Why did you let him shoot Tony? Then just sit there and wait for him to kill the both of you!" By the time she had finished her outburst, she was on her feet, hands clenched into fists. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. Taylor struggled hard to get away from him, but eventually she figured out she wasn't going anywhere. Either that or she grew tired. The end result was the same, she stopped fighting him.

Gibbs put his head down and spoke softly into her ear. "What do you think would have happened if we had told him where you and Jason were hiding?"

Taylor answered immediately. "He'd have come after us instead."

He shook his head. "That was never going to happen. Why was he trying to kill the pair of you?"

"Because we knew he shot that guy, and didn't want us to tell anyone."

"Uh huh, and when he showed and up at he house, and realised we were waiting for him, he would have known that we knew as well. The moment we told him where you were he would have killed us too." He gave her a few moments to let her think about it. "Taylor, do you really think I only had one gun? I had another behind me tucked into the waistband of my pants. I wasn't going to let him shoot Tony again. He could feel her tremble as she started to cry, so he held her tighter.

"You need to get it into that head of yours that it's my job to protect you, not the other way around, and how am I supposed to do that if you put yourself if into danger the way you did when you showed up last night?"

"I'm sorry." Taylor whispered, feeling guilty that she hadn't trusted him. "Are you mad cause I shot him?"

He whispered back. "I'd have been madder if you'd let him shoot you. I gotta warn you though, if you ever put yourself in danger like that again, I'll take the hide off you! Got it?"

She nodded. Suddenly remembering about the fish she stood up and pointed to the line in the water. "Aren't you gonna let it go?"

It only took a few more turns on the handle of the reel before the feathers broke the surface of the water.

Gibbs tried to sound surprised. "It must have got off!"

Taylor stared at the hooks, with the bait still firmly in place, before turning to glare at him. "That's not fair. You tricked me!"

He gave her a smug grin before he started the engine, then shouted over the noise. "Uh huh, and you cut my line, that wasn't fair either!" He stepped back from the wheel. "Now get over here, you can steer this thing back to dry land."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters

Chapter 8

Patricia had tried to call Jethro a number of times during the day to find out what was going on, and how Taylor was doing, but hadn't been able to get through to his cell. She paused for a moment to listen before putting the key in the door. When she was walking into a war zone she liked to psych herself up a bit first. There was no battle going on though, as she made her way through into the living room. The TV was on, the volume low, her husband and daughter lying side by side on the couch, both of them out for the count. It wasn't often that Jethro didn't wake up when someone was moving about, evidence of just how tired he was, so she didn't wake them, instead heading to the kitchen to sort out something for dinner. She would just have to wait to find out what happened.

It was the smell of food that finally woke Gibbs up. His marine senses must be going soft, when he hadn't even noticed Patricia returning. Carefully climbing over Taylor, who just rolled over into the space he left, and went to find her. She was sitting at the table, book in hand.

"Taylor still sleeping?"

"Yeah." He grabbed his caffeine fix before sitting down beside her.

"It went well then?" It didn't take a detective to figure that one out, not with the idiotic grin he was sporting.

"Uh huh." He wasn't giving anything away.

Patricia set her book down. If he wanted to play it like that, she could do it too. "You'd better start telling me what happened, if you're planning on eating tonight that is."

He held up his hands in surrender. "There's no need to get nasty."

"So you got her to talk to you?"

"Eventually."

"How'd you manage that?"

"He tricked me!" Taylor grumbled as she shuffled past them to the fridge. "He doesn't fight fair."

Reaching out Patricia gently pulled her over to stand beside her. "Dinner's ready in a few minutes if you're hungry."

"I'm starving, he didn't feed me either!" Taylor figured he deserved to be in trouble after the stunt he'd pulled. Then added for good measure. "I haven''t had anything to eat since this morning!"

Patricia turned to him obviously waiting for an explanation. He was sure her arms would be folded in disapproval if one wasn't still around Taylor.

"I didn't do it on purpose, we fell asleep!" He grinned at his daughter. "Besides, who let our lunch swim away?" He shook his head. "Wasn't me!"

"Okay, pack it in you two, I'm lost!" As she stood up she caught a glimpse of Taylor sticking her tongue out at her dad. "I saw that Taylor." She patted her on the butt. "Just for that, you can set the table." Then turned to Jethro who was looking extremely pleased with himself. "You needn't sit there gloating, you can help her!"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

While Taylor was upstairs taking a bath, Gibbs ran through everything that had happened.

"How did you know Taylor was going to react like that anyway?"

A smile crept across his face as he remembered the first, and until now, only fishing trip he'd taken his daughter on.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

_An excited six year old Taylor emerged from their tent, clutching her brand new junior fishing rod tightly in her grubby hands. They were going to catch their dinner. She had no idea what that meant, but it sounded like fun, so she eagerly followed her dad down to one of the little fishing jetties, dotted around the lake._

_It wasn't long before their lines were in the water and Taylor was watching her little orange float bob about in the water. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if she'd been allowed to dangle her feet in the water, but her dad had told her yesterday that it was too cold. It was only spring, and that was something to save for the summer._

_Jethro was surprised that his daughter was actually managing to sit still. It didn't happen very often. 'Excess energy, and a short attention span', he'd read on her school report only a few weeks ago. But then Taylor had hated school from the very start, and it wasn't unusual for him to have to drag her squirming and kicking through the gates in the morning. His thoughts were interrupted when Taylor let out a yell. Her float had been pulled under the surface of the water._

"_I got one! I got one!" She was on her feet now, struggling to keep a hold of the rod._

_Gibbs knelt behind her, reaching round to take the weight of the rod. "Reel it in, nice and slow now."_

_She chewed on her bottom lip turning the handle as she felt the fish fighting to escape from the hook._

"_Keep watching, you'll be able to see it soon."_

_Taylor's eyes were locked on the end of the line, and she didn't have to wait long before it broke the surface, and her dad helped her guide it closer and lift it up onto the wooden platform. When the hook was safely removed from it's mouth, she ran her fingers along it's smooth slippery side as it flipped about on the jetty._

_Her dad stood up and looked around. "Make sure it doesn't jump back in."_

_Taylor watched the fish carefully, it's big eye staring up at her, mouth opening and closing as if it was trying to speak._

_Her dad reappeared at her side and knelt down, large rock in his hand. Taylor realised what he was going to do the instant he raised it into the air._

_NO!" She screamed at him, and before he had the chance to hit the fish, he hit the water._

_It wasn't deep, maybe chest high on Jethro, but it was cold enough to take his breath away. He stood up, gasping, icy water running down his face, just in time to see his daughter drop the fish gently into the water. Taylor hadn't finished yet though, she was in full tantrum mode and lifted both rods._

"_TAYLOR!" That got her attention, and she froze. "Don't you dare!" He growled._

_She glared at him, before turning away from him and tossing the rods over the other side of the platform. The tackle box was next in her sights, but it was too heavy for her to throw, so as her dad waded through the cold water towards the bank, she shoved it as hard as she could over the edge. It made a loud splash as it hit the water, and Jethro fighting back the urge to swear, quickly turned and waded back towards the slowly sinking box. The rods he could replace, but he'd had that tackle box for years now, it had been a present from his dad, and he didn't want to lose it._

_As he reached for the handle he looked back up at Taylor. "You stay right where you are Taylor. Not one step, do you hear me!"_

_Taylor however, temper still at boiling point, had other ideas. Ignoring his order, she spun round and stomped her way towards the camp._

_By the time Gibbs squelched back to the tent there was no sign of his daughter. He was pretty sure though, that she was somewhere close, most likely watching him from behind a nearby tree, trying to decide if it was safe to come back yet. Well she could keep wondering for a while, he wanted to get into some dry clothes before he dealt with her._

_Ten minutes later a still cold, but dry Jethro went in search of his daughter. Standing outside the tent he put his finger and thumb into his mouth and gave a loud whistle. He didn't really expect Taylor to come running immediately, but he spotted a flash of red in the trees to his left._

"_Gonna count to three Taylor. ONE!"_

_A little voice came from behind a tree. "I'm stayin' 're mad at me."_

_He wasn't in the mood to argue with her. "TWO!"_

"_Stop countin', I already told you I'm not coming!" There was the temper flaring up again._

"_THREE!"_

_For a split second nothing happened, then Taylor bolted and Gibbs took off after her. It wasn't long before he scooped her up and tucked the wriggling six year old safely under his arm._

_Setting her down in a chair beside the tent he stood in front of her, arms folded, glaring down at her._

_Taylor was not fazed and glared back at him. "It's your fault! You were gonna hurt the fish!"_

"_You didn't think of just saying something, instead of pushing me into the water?"_

_She didn't answer, just folded her arms, copying him._

"_What on earth were you thinking when you threw everything else in too? And I told you to stay where you were!" Raising his voice had absolutely no effect on her present attitude. Instead Taylor stood up._

"_Where do you think you're going?"_

"_For a walk."_

_Grabbing a hold of her shirt he gently pushed her back down again. "Don't think so, we're not done yet."_

"_I am, and I'm not sorry!" She yelled at him as she stood up again, face reddening with a mixture of anger and frustration._

_That was it. He'd had enough. The tantrum stopped now. Instead of pushing her back down again he took a hold of her t-shirt at the scruff, sat down, and pulled her over his knee. Gibbs only landed half a dozen swats before Taylor's temper broke and she started to cry. He gave her a couple more for good measure before lifting her up to sit on his lap._

"_Try talking to me the next time you don't want me do something, I promise I'll listen, and that way you'll not end up over my knee."_

"_He leant down and kissed the top of her head._

"_Okay."_

"_Are you hungry?"_

_Taylor shook her head._

"_It's alright, we're not having fish."_

_This time she nodded._

_If Gibbs thought that was the end of the matter he was wrong. They had been back home for about a week, and his daughter hadn't mentioned the incident again. He'd noticed Taylor had been neglecting Dudley, her goldfish. When he had bought it for her after a lot of pleading, she had promised she would look after it, and until now she had. Feeding him religiously every morning before she left for school, and helping out when the water needed changed or the bowl cleaned. This was the second day in a row she hadn't fed him, and figuring he would talk to her about it later he opened the tub of fish food and sprinkled it into the bowl. Taylor, who he thought had been waiting for him out at the car flew in through the door, and put herself between him and the bowl, almost knocking the tub from his hand._

_Putting her hands on her hips she glared up at him. "I knew it!"_

_He looked down at her, confused. "What? I was only feeding Dudley because you forgot."_

"_Did not! He's on a diet."_

"_Taylor, fish do not go on diets, and just exactly what do you know?"_

_Turning, she watched as Dudley happily chased the flakes as they began to sink."You're trying to make him big and fat, so you can eat him!"_

_XOXOXOXOXOXO_

"Taylor hasn't eaten fish since."

Patricia was still grinning at the thought of Jethro trying to feed Dudley up. She pointed to the fish swimming happily in the bowl on the counter. "That Dudley?"

"Yes, well not exactly. That's Dudley mark two, but Taylor doesn't know."

Patricia raised her eyebrow at him.

"What? I didn't want her to know he died just after that. She wouldn't have believed it was natural causes. Taylor probably would have had Ducky perform an autopsy on him, to make sure I hadn't bumped him off. It was much easier just to replace him."

"Sounds like you were trying to protect yourself."

At least he had the decency to blush. "Okay, maybe just a bit." He admitted. "I bet you'd do the same!"

"I would not." Patricia shook her head.

"You can tell her when this one dies then." That was one thing he wasn't looking forward to, and would probably result in Dudley mark three.

"Okay, I'll do that. I know exactly what to say when Taylor finds an empty bowl."

"You do? What?"

"Yep. I'm gonna tell her you were hungry and we were all out of tuna."


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters._

Chapter 9

"Come on Taylor, it's time to get up."

Taylor groaned and pushed back the covers, before checking her clock. It was nine thirty.

"I don't have to go to school today?"

Her dad paused in the doorway. "No, you're coming into work with me today. The Director wants to take a statement from you, about what happened."

She couldn't believe her luck, another day off school. "What about Jason, is he going too?"

"Yeah, Jason's coming too."

A happy Taylor headed into the shower. She hadn't seen Jason for ages. Okay it had only been a couple of days, but it felt like longer. Tony might even be there, and Abby. Then she remembered about Tim. He was bound to be pissed at her for stealing his gun and giving him the slip. She had been there when her dad had yelled at him, so it might be a good idea to avoid him for a while. But hell, anything was better than being stuck in a classroom.

Taylor had just finished eating when Jason appeared at the kitchen door. He looked nervous, but still grinned at her.

"Your mom didn't kill you then?"

"No, why did you think she would?"

"You oughta heard the things she said when everyone realised you'd disappeared with the gun. I've never seen her so mad." He looked towards the counter. "I'm surprised her spoon is still in one piece, cause what she was gonna do when she got her hands on you, well…"

Embarrassed, she interrupted. "Well she must have calmed down by the time she got here, cause she didn't."

"It's okay, I believe you." He sat down beside her to wait for her dad. "Is it true what my mom said you did?"

Taylor looked at him suspiciously, through narrowed eyes. "What'd she say?"

"That you shot the cop."

She nodded.

"So he's not comin' back?"

"No."

"I'm glad you did then."

Taylor was relieved. For one horrible moment she thought he might not want to be her friend anymore.

"You two ready?" Gibbs appeared at the door. "If you're not, I can always drop you off at school instead."

Both kids were standing by the car in record time, there was no way they were going to let that happen.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor made a beeline for Tony the instant the elevator doors opened. He was sitting at his desk, crutches leaning up against a filing cabinet, looking extremely bored as he sorted through a large stack of paperwork in front of him. When he spotted her he dropped the file he had been glancing through, and gave her a huge smile.

"I've been waiting for you to show up."

"How's your leg?" She asked as she hugged him.

"Aw, you know. Any other agent would be at home, but not very special agent DiNozzo. A bullet can't slow me down."

Ziva's head snapped up at that comment. "Doesn't stop him talking about it either!"

Tony glared across at her, before leaning closer to Taylor and whispered into her ear. " Don't listen to her, she's just jealous because she missed all the action."

Jason appeared, looking a bit over awed, closely followed by Gibbs.

"Why don't you take Jason down to see Abby's lab, Taylor? I'll come get you when we're ready for you."

Tony wasn't going to be left with his paperwork and grabbed his crutches. "Wait up, I'm coming too."

Gibbs nodded, letting Tony know it was alright, before heading upstairs to find Vance.

Abby was hyper as usual, alternating between bouncing and hugging both Taylor and Jason. Tony felt a little bit left out. "What about me Abs? Aren't you glad to see me too? I am wounded you know!"

"I see you all the time Tony!" She hugged him anyway. "Course I'm glad to see you."

That seemed to make him happy.

"Abby showed me the video's on your camera Jason. They're really funny, had me in stitches."

Taylor looked at Tony, confused. "What vid… Oh shit!" She turned to Jason. "You didn't delete them before you handed your camera over?"

Blushing, Jason shook his head. "I didn't think of that."

"What about the one with the marine in it? Tell me that wasn't on it!"

Tony answered for him. "Oh yeah, it's still there, it's the best of the lot. You know you really should put them on youtube.

"They're already on Tony." Taylor was trying to figure just how much trouble she was in. "Abby, who's watched it?"

"Just me, Tony, Tim and Ziva. Gotta warn you though, Tim wasn't impressed. Sometimes he had no sense of humour! Oh, and the Director asked for a copy this morning."

Taylor was just about double check that her dad hadn't seen it, when the elevator dinged and he appeared behind them.

"Can you two keep Jason amused while Taylor makes a statement?"

Abby jumped at the opportunity. "No problem." Taking Jason's hand she pulled him across the lab. "I haven't introduced you to Major Mass Spec yet have I?"

Gibbs put a hand on his daughter's shoulder and guided her to the elevator. "Come on let's get this over with, the Director's waiting."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor was ushered past Cynthia and through into the Director's office. Leon Vance was seated at his desk, but stood up when he realised they where there.

He smiled and nodded. "Taylor." Before wheeling a chair over to the side of his desk. "Take a seat."

Sitting down in the chair, she gave it an experimental spin. It was much better than the ones in the bullpen.

Cynthia appeared, and took up position opposite Taylor, and gave her a reassuring smile. Her dad remained standing, leaning up against the wall.

"Do you understand what we're going to do now?" Vance asked Taylor.

She nodded.

"Do you know the difference between the truth and a lie Taylor?"

Taylor glanced over to where her dad was standing. "I'm not allowed to tell lies."

He seemed satisfied with that. "Okay then, that's good. I just want you to tell me what happened, who you saw, and what they were doing, from the moment you went into the woods with Jason."

Time for some quick thinking, there was no way she was going to admit to what they had been doing.

"Well, we were sittin' up a tree …." From the corner of her eye she could see her father straighten up, but it was the Director who spoke.

"Taylor, we need to know who else was in the area, they could be witnesses, so you have to start earlier than that." Vance had watched the recordings and knew what she was trying to hide, but he needed to know if anyone else had been involved in the murder.

"Aren't you afraid you'll swallow that?" She nodded towards the toothpick he was chewing on.

He raised an eyebrow at the question. "No."

"Oh, okay. So we were up in the tree when we saw this cop…."

"TAYLOR!"

She looked round at her dad. "What?"

"You know what!"

Taylor folded her arms defensively, and tried to think of a way out.

"I wanna cut a deal." Watching a lot of movies definitely had it's advantages.

Her dad was beside her now. "Just what the hell were you two up to?"

"I ain't sayin' anything if I'm gonna get into trouble, so you can just forget about a statement."

Jethro growled and reached for his daughter, but Vance was getting impatient.

"Gibbs, why don't you just wait outside for a few minutes?"

For a moment she thought he was going to ignore his boss, but Taylor felt him release the hold he had on her collar, then jumped as he slammed the door behind him.

"Ready to talk now?" The Director asked.

"Are you gonna send him out when Jason's here?" Taylor wanted to make sure she covered all bases.

"I will." He was quite enjoying winding Gibbs up. Made up for all the headaches the man gave him.

"Promise?"

"Promise." He replied seriously.

Once Taylor had described everything up to the point when the cop showed up, Cynthia was sent to retrieve Gibbs. He didn't look very happy, but Taylor was feeling really pleased with herself, and grinned at him anyway. Then instantly regretted it when his expression became even darker. That was so not good, but she didn't have long to worry about what he was thinking as Vance made her pick up the story where she'd left off.

When the whole story had been told, and Taylor signed the statement she was allowed to go. It was Jason's turn now. Not surprisingly, now she was free, Taylor was reluctant to leave the safety of the office. Her dad was still wearing that 'Wait 'till I get you alone' look, so she stayed in her seat.

"Don't you want to go get Jason now?" She asked him hopefully.

He shook his head. "Let's go. I want to make sure you don't talk to him first."

Leon had to hide a grin as he watched Taylor cautiously approach her father before stopping a safe distance from him.

She looked up at him. "Are you mad at me?"

Gibbs didn't answer, just pointed at the door. That would be a yes then, Taylor thought as she started moving past him.

"You're not supposed to be mad at me, I did get shot you know, and Ducky said I could go into shock."

"I'll keep that in mind." He replied dryly, as he finally managed to finally get a hold of her collar.

Leon watched Gibbs drag his daughter through into the outer office. Then cringed as a loud smack, closely followed by a yelp, broke the silence.

Cynthia put Taylor's statement into a folder and looked at her boss. "You do know he's not going to be very impressed when you make him wait outside again, don't you?"

"I know."

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

He didn't answer, just chewed on his toothpick and smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters._

Chapter 10

Taylor was still rubbing her butt as she was dragged into the elevator. Her dad hadn't said anything yet, but she knew for sure he'd be saying plenty later on. She just hoped he didn't start right now, and nervously counted down the floors as they descended towards the lab. When they had almost reached Abby's floor Taylor slowly let out the breath she had been holding. No sooner had the sigh passed her lips, when her father reached out and flicked the stop switch. Both the elevator and Taylor groaned.

"You're not going to say one word to Jason before I take him upstairs, got it?"

That didn't seem very fair to Taylor, I mean what happened to freedom of speech? However, trapped in a tiny confined space with one extremely pissed off father was not the ideal place to argue the point, so Taylor nodded.

Gibbs reached for the switch, but Taylor grabbed a hold of his sleeve to stop him.

He looked down at her. "What?" Fully expecting her to start trying to talk her way out of the rapidly increasing amount of trouble she was finding herself in.

"Can you at least tell him not to be scared, he gets kinda nervous."

This time it was his turn to nod.

Jason was nervous, and Gibbs did his best to try and calm him down, before he led him into the Director's office.

Taking up his previous position, leaning up against the wall, he waited for Jason to reveal what Taylor was trying so hard to hide. As usual his daughter hadn't thought more than one step ahead. How could she think that Jason would be able to keep anything from them? For heaven's sake the boy was actually trembling.

Vance had just finished the truth and lie part, when he looked directly at Gibbs, before nodding at the door.

Jethro glared at him, but didn't move.

"Sorry Gibbs, it's part of the deal. Would you step outside for a few moments please?" Vance did not look one little bit sorry.

In fact, to Jethro it looked as if he was enjoying this. "You're going to let an eleven year old call the shots?"

Vance shrugged. "I promised."

Staring at him in disbelief, Gibbs pushed himself away from the wall. "Fine." Again the door slammed behind him.

Jethro paced, in an attempt to keep his temper under control. He should have realised Taylor was up to something when she hadn't tried to warn Jason. Not that any of this was going to make any difference in the long run. He was going to find out what was going on, and then that daughter of his was going to find out there was a big difference between cutting a deal and immunity."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"What did you do this time?" Tony asked, the moment the elevator doors closed behind Gibbs and Jason.

"He's just pissed because I wouldn't tell him what we were doing in the woods."

Tony stared at her in disbelief, before making a big show of checking her for any injuries. "You said 'no' to Gibbs and you're still in one piece?"

Taylor pushed him away. "I made a deal with the Director and he made him stand outside, until I told him about the pranks."

"Have you gone crazy? Gibbs doesn't make deals, and when he gets you home he's gonna ….."

"TONY! Quit freakin' me out, it's all I could think of!"

Tony finished the sentence in his head. "Sorry."

"Where's Abby?" Hopefully she could make her feel better.

"With Ducky, but she shouldn't be long, she has something she wants you to see."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Abby was away for quite a while, but Tony was good at keeping her amused. When she eventually returned, she headed straight to her computer. Abby typed in a few commands before pointing the control at the large plasma screen. "I edited your videos, and added some music. Watch."

Even though Taylor was still worried about how her dad was going to react when Vance sent him out of the room for a second time, she couldn't help laughing along with Abby and Tony. Abby had done a great job, and her choice of music was excellent. It should be a big hit on Youtube.

"So what do you think?" Abby asked excitedly.

Taylor didn't get the chance to reply.

"I think we should watch it again, from the beginning Abby."

All three slowly turned round, guilt clearly written on their faces.

Abby regained the use of her tongue first. "Hi Gibbs, didn't know you were there."

"I can see that." He replied sarcastically.

"How'd it go Jason?" Change the subject, Abby thought.

He shrugged. "Okay."

When Jethro moved closer to Abby, Taylor saw her chance and grabbed a hold of Jason, before moving slowly towards the door.

"Don't even think about it Taylor!" He hadn't even looked round.

Her chances of escape were not favourable, so she reluctantly returned to his side.

"Play it Abby, I want to see what you all found so funny."

No one moved, they were all finding the floor extremely interesting.

"I'm waiting Abby."

Abby tried again. "It's not really your thing Gibbs, you wouldn't like it. No boats or anything in it."

The more Abby squirmed, and tried to talk him out of it, the more determined he became to find out what they were trying to hide.

He wasn't going to waste time arguing with her anymore, and reached over, taking the control from her hand. He hit play.

The screen was filled with the damning evidence. Assuming Gibbs was giving the screen his compete attention, Tony, Taylor and Jason all started to slowly back out of the lab, towards the elevator. Abby was rooted to the spot, she wasn't going anywhere, but they had no qualms about leaving her there.

"GET BACK HERE NOW!"

They did. Taylor stuck her hands in the pockets of her jeans as she was pulled over to stand in front of her dad and waited for the explosion.

This time there was no laughter when the end credits Abby had made, rolled at the end of the clips.

"This is what you've been trying to hide?"

Taylor hung her head, and waited for Jason to answer. He didn't though, no one did.

"Taylor?" He watched her nervously shuffle her feet.

Tony interrupted. "Come on boss, you have to admit it is funny."

Gibbs was in front of Tony in two strides, leaning in close to make him feel uncomfortable. "You think humiliating people is funny DiNozzo?"

Tony swallowed hard. "No boss."

Satisfied with Tony's response he pointed to the elevator. "Back to work."

Taylor was watching Tony make his not so agile escape, wishing it was her, when her father spoke again.

"I'm waiting for an answer Taylor!"

She didn't look at him when she spoke. "Yes sir."

Jason, just glad Taylor's dad hadn't asked him first, nodded to confirm his involvement.

"Looks like we're going to have to have a discussion about respect later as well as defiance."

Gibbs turned to Abby. "Delete it."

"But Gibbs, it took me ages to put that together, and as for the music, well a lot of thought went into that!"

He took a step towards her. "Am I gonna have to have the same discussion I'm gonna have with Taylor, with you too Abagail? Because I can pretty much guarantee you won't like it any more than she will."

Abby's eyes opened wide, and she shook her head, pigtails flying. As much as she loved Taylor, Abby was in no way willing to find out what he meant by that. It didn't just sound like a threat, it was one.

"No Gibbs, you don't have to do that. She typed frantically at her keyboard. "All gone boss man."

He nodded, before turning his attention back to the kids. "I suppose you two are hungry."

Jason had been expecting a lecture, or at the very least a lot of yelling, and the relief was evident in his voice when he answered. "Starving." He assumed that was the matter over and done with.

"What about you?"

"Suppose." Taylor recognised the temporary reprieve for what it was. "Can I go see Tim first? I wanna tell him I'm sorry." She had felt guilty when he'd smiled at her earlier from his desk, and considering today wasn't going to get any better, it was a good time to get her apology out of the way.

"Go on, we'll meet you up there in a few minutes."

Not waiting for the elevator she flew up the stairs to the bullpen.

Tim was still typing, but stopped when she appeared at his side.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble, I shouldn't have stolen your gun."

He gave her a small smile. "Apology accepted Taylor. But please, don't do it again, your dad's likely to skip the shouting next time and just shoot me."

"You got that right." Gibbs growled from behind Taylor.

Tim blushed at his boss's comment.

"So where're we going for lunch? Can we get pizza?" Taylor asked hopefully.

Tony's head snapped up when he heard the word pizza. "Boss, I haven't had any lunch yet either. Can I come too?"

"I dunno. Jason, Taylor, what do you think?"

Jason nodded, but Taylor watched as Tony hopped over to his crutches. "Suppose it's okay, as long as he can keep up."

"Thanks a lot Taylor, injured in the line of duty, and you'd let me starve."


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters._

Chapter 11

"What's the matter Taylor, not hungry?" Tony reached over to steal one of her slices. His were long gone.

She slapped his hand away. "Hey! Don't mess with the pizza!" Taylor took another bite.

"Tony?" She asked through a mouthful of pizza.

"How can I help my favourite god daughter?"

"Tony, I'm your only goddaughter, and you're still not getting the last piece." She nodded towards the rest room where her dad was. "How mad do you think he is?"

Tony shrugged. "Hard to tell."

"Can I come live with you?"

"Don't think your mom and dad would be too happy about that." He smiled at the thought of telling Gibbs that Taylor was moving in with him.

"Just until he calms down." She was one step away from pleading.

"He doesn't look angry." Jason couldn't understand what Taylor was worried about.

"He's angry alright, he's just trying to lull us into thinking it's okay, then he'll pounce."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

When Jason climbed out of the car and turned in the direction of his house Gibbs stopped him.

"Not yet you don't. You have some explaining to do first."

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Taylor, well aware that Jason had now become a liability, grabbed his arm and pulled him up the path, whispering as she did so.

"Whatever you do don't tell him about the web sites!" She warned.

That was the only advice she was able to give him before her dad caught up with them, and ushered them through the front door and into the living room.

Taylor had been hoping her mom would be back from school by now, but there was no coffee aroma coming from the kitchen.

Gibbs hung up his jacket and fired up the coffee maker. He stole a glance at the kids sitting on the couch, as he waited for the first few drops of coffee to make their way through the filter. Taylor was whispering into Jason's ear.

"HEY!" He yelled.

Both kids jumped.

"Do I have to make you both stand in a corner?"

Jason looked as if he had just been threatened with a firing squad. His daughter though, was making it perfectly clear by her glare she wasn't happy at being interrupted.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Coffee cup in hand, Gibbs couldn't put it off any longer. "So who came up with the idea?"

"What idea?" Taylor was going with the 'play it dumb' angle.

"The video Taylor."

"What difference does that make?"

Gibbs took a couple of steps towards her. "You know exactly what'll happen if you keep this up."

Taylor slid a little further back on the seat, but wisely kept her mouth shut.

"Okay Jason, who came up with the pranks?"

Jason flinched, and Taylor tried to look innocent.

'Maybe I pinched him a little too hard Taylor thought a few seconds later as she stared at the paint, inches from her nose, backside stinging from the swat she'd received on her way across the room.

Sitting on the coffee table, Jethro started again. "Who came up with the idea Jason?"

"We both did."

"Was that all of it? The clips that Abby had?"

"Yes."

"You sure?"

"Yes sir, I only got the camera last week, for my birthday. Will I get it back?"

"I'll pick it up for you tomorrow."

"Do you think it's okay to scare people, just because you think it's funny?"

Jason's eyes flicked over to where Taylor was standing, and Gibbs immediately knew she'd turned round. He was on his feet and beside his daughter before she realised what was happening. She narrowed her eyes, put her hands on her hips and glared up at him.

"Stop trying to make him feel guilty, we didn't do anything wrong! You need to get yourself a sense of humour!" There, she'd said it.

Maybe she should have left the last part out. Her father grasped her collar and pulled her towards the armchair.

"Dad, you can't, Jason's here!" Taylor frantically tried to free herself.

"You should of thought of that before you opened your mouth then, shouldn't you."

Sitting down on the arm of the chair, he quickly tipped her over his knee, and applied half a dozen smacks to the seat of her pants, before escorting her back to the corner.

"If you say another word, or move your nose out of this corner without permission, you'll lose the pants, and I don't care if Jason's here. Understand?"

Taylor nodded.

Confident Taylor wouldn't interrupt again he turned his attention back to Jason, who now looked extremely worried.

Gibbs tried to get him to relax a bit. "So you got the camera for your birthday"  
Jason forced himself to look at Taylor's dad, and not Taylor. He didn't want to be next. "Yeah."

"You were thirteen, right?"

He nodded.

"Did you ask your mom and dad for the camera, or was it a surprise?"

In the corner Taylor was ready to explode. How could Jason not see the trap he was walking into?

Jason grinned. "No, I asked for one so we could….."

Taylor coughed loudly from her corner before Jason could finish what he was saying.

Gibbs sighed as he pushed himself up from the low table. This was not good for his knees. He approached Taylor slowly, watching her tense as he got closer, but she didn't speak, or turn round, so he just leant down and whispered into her ear.

"Last chance Taylor." He knew she was dying to say something, but he wasn't going to give her the opportunity.

"Look Jason, I'm not angry with you. I just want you to think about how you would feel if someone scared you like that, just because they thought it was funny."

Jason thought for a moment. "I wouldn't like it." He replied guiltily.

Gibbs nodded. "So why did you do it then?"

"I didn't really think about how they would feel. I suppose it's because we didn't know them. I'm sorry, we shouldn't have treated them like that."

He really did look sorry, and not for the first time Jethro wished Taylor would follow his lead more often, and not the other way round.

"I know you look out for Taylor, and that's good, but you have to stop letting her talk you into things that you know aren't right."

"Yes sir."

"Aw, for **** sake! He'll be joining the ******* boy scouts next!" Taylor mumbled to herself.

The room went silent, and Taylor held her breath, as she tried to convince herself there was no way they could of heard that. After what seemed like a lifetime, her father started talking again, and she allowed herself to relax.

"Which one of the pranks do you think was the worst?" Jethro was trying very, very hard, not to haul his daughter out of the corner right now to let her know exactly what he thought about her behaviour, but even though he'd threatened it, he wasn't going to make her drop her pants in front of Jason.

"The one with the marine." He blushed at the thought of the guy diving for cover.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because he probably had to do that for real."

"Uh huh. So why'd you do it?"

Jason glared at Taylor's back. Sometimes she could be a real idiot, she'd had him convinced they were in big trouble, and he did NOT want to join the boy scouts. "That one wasn't exactly planned."

The sound of a car door closing could be heard from across the street.

"That's your mom back, go on, you can let her know everything went okay today." Gibbs walked with him to the front door and watched until he was safely across the road and inside. One down, and one to go he thought as took a deep breath, before closing the door and going back in to deal with his daughter.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Not surprisingly, now that Jason was gone, Taylor was no longer standing in the corner. Instead, in the short time it had taken him to show Jason out, Taylor had switched on the TV and made herself comfortable on the couch.

Taking the remote from her hand, he switched the TV off before pulling Taylor to her feet and leading her back to the corner.

Jethro only made it about half way back to the couch again when she turned round. "I thought you'd finished with the whole 'don't humiliate people for fun' crap."

He stalked back towards her, growling as he did so. "You know good and well why you're in trouble, and if you have any sense you'll stand there quietly and give me the chance to calm down." Just in case she was in any doubt about how angry he was right now, he gave her a swat, hard enough to almost lift her off her feet, before he spun her back round to face the wall.

He let her stand there for another ten minutes before calling her into the kitchen, and sitting her down at the table.

The swat must have made an impression, because the smart mouth was gone.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You know, for makin' you stand outside."

"Why'd you do it?"

Taylor shrugged.

"You can't have been that worried about me finding out about the pranks. They weren't that bad. So come on, spit it out! Why have you been hell bent on defying me all day?"

"Cause I knew you'd want to delete them, and they're not yours. I wanna keep them!"

"You still have a copy?"

"Maybe."

"Where?"

"I told you, I'm keepin' them."

Looked like the swat was wearing off. He sighed as he rubbed his face with both hands.

"Taylor, why are you in trouble?"

"I didn't do what you wanted me to."

"That's right, and what are you doing now?"

She didn't answer, just stared intently at the tabletop.

"Go get it."

Taylor looked up at him, all set to try and change his mind.

"NOW!"

It only took one look at his face for her to decide that she didn't want to find out what he would do if she defied him again. If he wanted her memory stick, he could have it. Standing up, she reached into the pocket of her jeans and dumped the contents onto the table, before sitting down again to search through it. There it was, stuck between an open stick of gum and a dollar bill. Taylor freed the flash drive and pushed it across the table before scrunching what was left into a ball and back into her pocket again.

"This is the only copy you have?"

"Yes." Technically that was not a lie. He didn't ask if she would be able to download it again from the internet.

"Okay. Why else are you in trouble?"

"I didn't stay in the corner and you didn't like what I said, but you already walloped me for that, and just so you know, it was way too hard!"

"What else?"

"There's more?"

"Uh huh."

Taylor thought, then thought some more. "What?"

"You want me to give you a clue?"

She didn't really, but nodded anyway.

"Boy scout." Folding his arms, he leaned back in his chair and waited for her to figure it out.

It took a few seconds for Taylor to realise what he was talking about."

"You heard that?" Not good.

"Oh yeah."

Taylor shifted uncomfortably on her chair. "That's not fair, you weren't supposed to be listening, I was talking to myself!"

"That doesn't make it right." Standing up he set his mug in the sink. "Let's get this over with before your mom gets back. Upstairs."

For a moment Taylor didn't move. It didn't make it any easier that she had known he was gonna spank her. She'd known her butt was in trouble, from the moment he'd slammed the door as he stormed out of the Director's office that morning.

"Taylor!"

There was nothing else for it. She slowly climbed the stairs to her room, her dad close on her heels. About halfway up Taylor stopped suddenly, and turned to face her father.

"Wait a minute, you can't spank me! I made a deal!"

"I know you made a deal." He turned her round again, and swatted her backside to get her moving again. "It's just a pity you made the deal with the wrong person isn't it?"

Taylor was not ready to give up yet.

"It's about time you gave up on this whole spanking thing. It's gettin' a bit old, and it doesn't seem to be working." Taylor offered up as she watched her dad sit down on her bed.

"Got any better ideas?"

"You could stop my allowance."

He shook his head.

"Make me wash up?"

"Taylor, you always wash up."

"See, we're done already." She turned to leave the room.

"Get back here!"

Taylor stopped and turned back to face him, but didn't move any closer."

Jethro pointed at the floor in front of him. "You really want to make it worse?"

"Don't suppose you wanna make a deal do you?" Taylor asked as she slowly closed the space between them again.

Reaching out he hooked his fingers into the waistband of her pants, and pulled her between his knees, before he unfastened them.

She was still waiting hopefully for a reply, as he pulled her to his side, tugged her jeans down and guided her over his lap.

"Tell you what, I'll make a deal with you. I won't spank you, if you don't do anything to earn it. Can't be any fairer than that."

"Doesn't seem very fair to me."

"Yeah well you might as well find out now. Most deals come with a sting in the tail."

Gibbs was through talking, and started spanking. It wasn't long before Taylor was crying hard, and fighting like hell to get away from his hand, but it didn't do her any good, it never did. He almost felt sorry for her when he stood her up, so that he could do the same. He knew he didn't have any other choice as he slipped off his belt, Taylor knew the score when it came to swearing. It didn't make it any easier though, and by the time he was finished he was sure that he felt just as bad as his daughter, who was now clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

"No more deals?" He whispered when she eventually started to relinquish her grip.

Taylor shook her head.

"No more scaring the life out of unsuspecting marines?"

She looked up at him. "No."

"And what about prank videos?"

For a split second he could have sworn that was guilt that just flashed across his daughter's face before she turned away from him.

"Taylor?" Was she still hiding something?

"No more videos dad. You took my flash drive didn't you?

"Are you sure that was the only copy you have?"

"Yes."

Not exactly convinced, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt for now. "Okay then, you can stay up here until I call you for dinner."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs was sitting beside the fire, trying to figure out if he'd missed something when the front door opened.

"What's going on?" Patricia asked as she dropped her bags down on the floor beside the couch.

Jethro gave her the condensed version, then shook his head. "I'm sure the little brat's still hiding something."

"So Abby deleted everything, Jason doesn't have the memory card, and Taylor gave you her flash drive?"

"Yeah."

Patricia looked at him in disbelief. "You really don't know what she's up to?"

Gibbs shook his head.

"You know, you should ask Tim to explain the internet to you."

"Hey, I can email!"

"There's a bit more to the internet than that Jethro."

"I'll take your word for it, so you know what she's up to then?"

"Oh yeah. Give me a couple of minutes, before you call her down, then just watch and learn."

A slightly smug Taylor entered the kitchen, expecting to be fed. Her mom and dad were both leaning against the counter, but it was the two items on the table that really caught her attention. One was her mom's laptop, and the other, the wooden spoon.

Gibbs had to smirk at the expression on his daughter's face. Patricia had hit the nail right on the head.

"You know what to do." Patricia pulled out the chair in front of the computer for Taylor to sit down.

Taylor swallowed hard. "What if I don't?"

Patricia folded her arms, and nodded towards the spoon. "Then we'll just have to see if I can convince you to change your mind."

Jethro watched his daughter trying to decide what to do and wasn't surprised when she cautiously eased herself onto the chair, and started typing.

Taylor could feel her mom and dad watching over her shoulder as she deleted all the videos she had uploaded to YouTube.

"Happy now?" She asked when the last one was gone.

"That depends. Was that the only site you used?" Patricia asked.

When Taylor didn't answer immediately she added, "I _will _be checking the internet history."

Taylor, still acutely aware of the spoon beside her, started to type again. Two websites later, and it was as if they had never spent hours up that tree, trying to get the perfect reaction on camera.

"That's it." She closed the computer and pushed it away, before looking up at them. "What?" They both had that disappointed look, the one that made her feel bad. "You didn't ask if we'd posted it!"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Jethro was checking that his daughter was actually in bed this time, when he was interrupted by someone banging loudly on the door. Taking the stairs two at a time he flung the door open, to find an extremely worked up Abby.

"Not so loud Abby, what's wrong?"

"Where's Taylor, and what did you do to her?" Abby pushed past him and into the living room.

Patricia closed her book and watched in amusement as the Goth paced up and down in front of her, arms flailing.

"Calm down Abs!" He was trying to figure out if she was drunk.

"Where is she?"

"In bed, so try and keep your voice down." He couldn't smell any alcohol.

"I wanna see her."

"Taylor's fine Abby. Why don't you sit down, and I'll get you a coffee. Patricia offered in an attempt to calm her down.

She did sit down, but didn't look any happier.

"Abby, you do not have to protect Taylor from me!" He sat down beside her.

"I know that Gibbs, it's just…."

"Just what Abs?"

"Well you gotta feel sorry for the kid, I mean, she never gets away with anything, cause you're Gibbs, and you always know everything!"

"Abby, I don't call her on everything she tries to get away with. Hell if that was the case she'd spend most of her time either over my knee, or standing in a corner."

"Oh…but…"

"Look Abby, letting Taylor get away with little things, like when she tells me her homework's finished just so she can watch a movie, or when she comes home, covered head to toe in mud and expects you to believe she was skating and not playing football with Jason and his mates, that's fine, I can let that slide. But when she's disrespectful and defiant, that I can't overlook, and Taylor knows it."

"Sorry Gibbs, it's just the pranks they pulled didn't seem so bad."

"Taylor's not in trouble because of the that. Okay I'm not exactly pleased with what she did, but I wouldn't have punished her, just tried to get her to understand that humiliating people is not acceptable.

"You wouldn't?" The fight was quickly draining away from her.

"Believe it or not, I was a kid once too Abby, and played my fair share of jokes. But with Taylor it's the extent she went to, to stop me finding out, and then when I did, to stop me getting rid of the videos. You know when Taylor sets her mind on something it's extremely difficult to get her to see sense, and when you, or Tony back her up it only makes it harder."

"I'm really sorry Gibbs…." Abby threw her arms round his neck, and started to cry.

When she finally let go, he smiled at her, and handed her a tissue. "It's alright Abby, it's good that you want to protect her, you just don't have to protect her from me."

"What's going on?" A pyjama clad Taylor appeared in the doorway, rubbing her eyes as they became accustomed to the light.

"Abby's here to check you're still in one piece."

"Why wouldn't I be?" It was hard to think when her brain was half asleep. Taking advantage of the fact she hadn't been sent straight back to bed Taylor curled up beside her dad, head resting on his knee.

"Well, do you think she'll survive?" He asked Abby as Taylor closed her eyes.

"I think I might of over reacted just a little bit." She replied sheepishly.

Patricia returned, and handed Abby her coffee.

Taylor was almost asleep but forced her eyes open when she heard her mom. "You're supposed to be in bed."

"Not tired."

"I can see that. How about you try to be 'not tired' in your bed?" Patricia held her hand out to help her up, and Taylor reluctantly took it.

Abby hugged her goodnight and Taylor noticed for the first time that she had been crying, but didn't get the chance to ask why, before her mom was steering her towards the stairs.

It was still bugging her as she climbed under the cover her mom was holding up for her.

"Mom?"

Patricia paused, hand on the light switch. "Yeah?"

"Why was Abby crying?"

"She was just upset, she's fine now."

Taylor rolled onto her side and closed her eyes when the room went dark. "That's okay then. I thought maybe dad spanked her too."


End file.
